It's the thought that counts

Veggie Krisha saves the day

2009-05-09T12:53:00.001+01:00

Just a short walk from the colourful Camden market with its bright T-shirts, fancy dresses and Bob Marley music, the poorest of the poor queue in the rain without any obvious reason. Tired looking men in their forties, punks who drink out of a bottle in a Sainsbury’s bag and old women with muddy jumpers pull miserable faces while standing in line with their look straight ahead. Suddenly, a van stops and the faces light up.

Camden Town is one of the stops of the Food For All-van that distributes free vegetarian food to people suffering from homelessness, poverty, unemployment or mental or physical disabilities.
This much needed help is organized by London’s Hare Krishna, a religious movement that has its roots in Hinduism. In this movement, meat, fish, eggs, onions, garlic and mushrooms are avoided because of the belief that certain kinds of nutrition affect the consciousness in a bad way. “You are what you eat,” says the head of the charity, Peter O’Grady. “Whatever you eat, affects your consciousness.”

Strangely, most of the homeless people are not vegetarians. Even though there are many soup kitchens that offer meat for lunch in London, some people prefer to stand in the cold and eat their vegetarian food on the street. Mara, a homeless old woman, admits: “No, I am not a vegetarian. But the food is good. I come here every day.”

Ralf, a member of Hare Krishna, who distributes the free food in the van, explains: “People with health problems come to the van, because the food is digested easily.” After handing out a plate with rice and beans to a young man with red long hair and a dirty leather jacket, he continues: “People come here very ill, eat the food and get healthy again. Food is so powerful when it is made with love and devotion. Some people even give up their old lifestyle.”

Peter O’Grady says that he serves God by giving out free food. However, he does not feel the need to kill animals. “In fact,” he goes on, “I believe that there is a connection between bad karma and killing animals.” According to his belief, vegetarian food is “blessed food”. By giving out this food to homeless people, he blesses them.

Apart from his religious reasons to avoid meat, Peter O’Grady is also an economical vegetarian. He explains that “the meat industry uses ten times more crop than human beings eat. Without the meat consumption there would be ten times more crop to feed people.”

The van stops in Kentish Town, Camden Town and at Kings Cross for an hour each. Together with two rickshaws that supply students with a vegetarian meal on two university campuses, Food For All feeds 800 hungry mouths every day.

The charity picks up food products from supermarkets that have been over produced, gone out of date or wrongly packaged. The meals are cooked every morning in the kitchen of Watford’s Hare Krishna temple.

The charity has won the city award of 2007 for their successful green community based project. That this act of “love and devotion”, as Peter O’Grady calls it, is much needed, expresses one homeless person by saying that: “I don't get money from social security and there is no where I can get food from. I completely rely on the centre for my food and if it wasn't here I would probably die.” Another claimed: “If it were not here I would be begging money from cash points and shop lifting to earn money for food.”

Are you what you eat?

2009-05-08T17:47:00.001+01:00

Thousands of people die because of their medicine’s side effects each year. Since 1996 the casualties through medicine has doubled. Doctors prescribe more and stronger drugs, which can lead to more side effects. The pharmaceutical industry sells £600 billion of drugs a year, says Patrick Holford, nutritionist and author of 35 books. In America one in nine women take anti-depressants. But is this all necessary?

“All of today’s major health issues can be solved by simple, radical changes in the way we live and eat – not by more and more drugs,” says Patrick Holford. In case of depression, he recommends getting omega 3 fats, zinc and magnesium into one’s system. A lack of these nutrients can contribute to feeling low.
A headache could be caused by dehydration, blood sugar problems, allergies to food and a lack of Vitamin B. Just a change of diet could cure a chronic, annoying headache.
Hazel Courteney, an award-winning health writer, who has worked as a columnist for the Daily Mail and Sunday Times, says that cutting down on alcohol, coffee, high fat and sugary processed foods and drinks can often help cure acne in most young people. She explained that these foods overload the liver, which is the organ responsible for breaking down and eliminating toxins and excess hormones, which are usually the trigger for acne in the young. If the liver becomes overloaded, then toxins remain in the body, triggering a host of conditions including acne, as toxins end up being “dumped” in the skin.

However, people should not rely on food as medicine at all times. Most nutritionists point out that a health food shop should not replace a doctor’s office. Melanie Flower, a nutritional therapist, says that nutritional medicine “is best used as a lifestyle choice to prevent future chronic health conditions. Orthodox medicine is fantastic at dealing with medical emergencies.”

But to cure chronic degenerative diseases, there is often no need to swallow hundreds of pills. All you need to do is change your diet. Doctors keep prescribing drugs, because they hardly know anything about the healing effect of the right diet. Patrick Holford says: “A young GP’s training is hopelessly inadequate and covers virtually nothing on nutritional medicine. If your doctor is over the age of 35, then the chances are, in seven years training they will have had six to 12 hours education in nutrition, most of which is very basic.”
Suyogi Gessner, who practises ayurveda, an alternative medicine native to India, gives another explanation. According to her, a patient expects a doctor to perform a miracle and cure as fast as possible. Food is a medicine that takes time to cure, whereas drugs work very fast. For patients, it is easy to take a pill, because they do not have to change their diet and can continue living their lives the way they did before, without changing their diets. What they do not realize, is that their illness might have been the result of a wrong diet.

“Prevention is far better than cure,” says Hazel Courteney. “Your body is made of food molecules, your body is literally made of what you eat, plus light, air and water.” Apparently, as much as 75 per cent of all chronic degenerative diseases are triggered by a poor diet, lacking in sufficient nutrients. Most cancer cells feed on sugar. But even if you inherit a specific cancer gene, you can help load the generic “dice” in your favour by eating anti cancerous foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables.
Patrick Holford recommends an intake of around 30mcg of Vitamin D a day to achieve the lowest cancer risk. A human being can take in 15mcg of Vitamin D by eating plenty of oily fish and eggs as well as 30 minutes of sun exposure. The other 15mcg have to be supplemented.

A lot of people think that supplements are just a rip-off. The number of supplements and suppliers is inestimable. Nutritionist therapist Melanie Flower says: “Some supplements are a rip off and some are extremely valuable. There is a lot of variation in what is available today. It is always best to see the advice of a qualified nutrition practitioner before taking supplements.” Hazel Courteney emphasizes the importance to eat enough vitamins, minerals and essential fats. “Supplements should never be used as a substitute for a healthy, balance diet,” she says. But supplements are better than nothing and maybe necessary, since nowadays
many fruits and vegetables contain lower levels of nutrients than they did 50 years ago.

Especially in the spring it is very important to eat a lot of fresh vegetables in order to achieve an optimum vitamin intake. The spring is the time of rebirth. The nature reawakens. Not only our houses, but also our bodies need a spring clean. Suyogi Gessner says, the body needs to get all substances out of its system that has been accumulated during the winter. We should eat easily digested food, such as rice and fresh prepared soups. She also recommends going on a fast for 10 days eating vegetables and mung bean soup.

We should not underestimate the curing effect of nutrition. “If medicine was meant to be used on a daily basis, nature would have let it grow on trees,” says Michael Gehler, a non-medical practitioner. A good place to start changing the diet is reading “The Optimum Nutrition Bible” by Patrick Holford. He said: “This stuff should be taught in school.”

Der Tod von Radio MultiKulti - auch die Öffentlich-Rechtlichen haben Leichen im Keller

2009-01-29T23:34:00.003Z

Foto: Lutz Schramm

Artikel erscheint im Blicklicht, Februar 2009

Darwin hat mal wieder Recht behalten: Der im Kampf ums Überleben am besten an seine Umwelt angepasste überlebt. Fressen und gefressen werden. Radio MultiKulti wurde einfach zum Frühstück verputzt. In der Silvesternacht hat der multikulturelle Radiosender den letzten Ton von sich gegeben.

Grund dafür ist eine Sparmaßnahme des RBB, dem 54 Millionen Euro im Etat für 2009 fehlen. Die Öffentlich-Rechtliche Rundfunkanstalt wird zwar von GEZ-Gebühren finanziert, jedoch sind 14,5 Prozent der Haushalte in Berlin und Brandenburg wegen Sozialhilfe von den Rundfunkgebühren befreit. Der RBB-Sprecher Ralph Kotsch sagte: "Wir wollen nicht mit dem Rasenmäher gleichmäßig alles beschneiden. Stattdessen könnten einzelne Elemente vollständig entfallen.“ Mit einem Marktanteil von 0,8 Prozent, also täglich 37.000 Hörern, war Radio MultiKulti das schwächste Glied und musste gehen.

So unbekannt war der Radiosender dann aber doch nicht. Ein halbes Jahr lang wurde das Aus des Senders in den nationalen Medien diskutiert. Sogar bis nach London reichte sein Bekanntheitsgrad. Roza Tsagarousianou, Dozentin an der University of Westminster in London, sprach in ihrer Vorlesung über Multikulturalismus und Medien über die Vorbildfunktion von Radio MultiKulti, da es so ein Format in Europa kein zweites Mal gebe.

Radio MultiKulti sendete seit 1994 in 21 verschiedenen Sprachen. Am Tage war die Moderatorensprache jedoch deutsch, um eine „beidseitig befahrbare Brücke zwischen dem deutschen und nichtdeutschen Publikum“ zu bauen. „Integration ist keine Einbahnstraße“, so die Chefredakteurin, Ilona Marenbach. Das deutsch der Moderatoren war allerdings oft nicht akzentfrei, um weiterhin multikulturell bleiben. Ab 17 Uhr ging es dann auf englisch, französisch, sorbisch, türkisch oder anderssprachig weiter und ab 22 Uhr gab es dann die „Weltmusikspezialsendungen“ verschiedener Hörfunksender. Die Musik war vielseitig und stammte aus der ganzen Welt. Es sollte ein Programm für alle sein.

Von einem Programm für alle träumte schon John Reith, der Gründervater der BBC – ein Konzept, das ein Vorbild für die Öffentlich-Rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten war. Als Reith den ersten Öffentlich-Rechtlichen Rundfunk der Welt plante, hatte er die Vision, ein Programm zu entwickeln, welches bildet und unterhält und zwar alle. Durch Gebühren sollte sichergestellt werden, dass auch Minderheiten auf ihre Kosten kommen und ihre Sendungen nicht aufgrund von kommerziellen Wettkämpfen gestrichen werden müssen. Doch was John Reith vor über 80 Jahren zu verhindern versuchte, ist jetzt mit Radio MultiKulti geschehen. Trotz GEZ-Gebühren wurde ein wichtiges Integrationselement wegen finanzieller Probleme einfach ausgelöscht. „Keine Ausländer-raus Politik beim RBB“ hießen die Forderungen von Politikern. Die Staatsministerin für Integration, Maria Böhmer (CDU), sagte, die Schließung des Senders wäre „aus integrationspolitischer Sicht das falsche Signal“. Doch jetzt sind die deutschen Medien wieder monokulturell.

Auf jedem Sender kommt das gleiche Pop-Gequake. Daran ändert auch das Funkhaus Europa nichts, das als Alternative zur Verfügung gestellt wurde. Dem Sender des WDR, mit einer Zentrale in Köln, ist es nicht möglich, regionale Informationen an die Berliner und Brandenburger weiterzugeben. Radio MultiKulti war für die Metropole Berlin perfekt zugeschnitten – der neue Sender, Funkhaus Europa, ist da nur ein Abklatsch. „Einige Formate von Radio Multikulti wurden übernommen, nicht jedoch sein Geist“, schrieb Anetta Kahane im Tagesspiegel Anfang Januar über den Ersatz. Akzente gibt es beim Funkhaus nicht. Und Politik erst recht nicht. Beim Radio MultiKulti waren andere Ansichten erlaubt, es wurde viel gestritten und diskutiert. Die gesetzten Schwerpunkte waren ungewöhnlich, es wurde gegen den Strich gebürstet. Das Funkhaus Europa ist dagegen einfach nur langweilig.

Ein kleiner Trost: Einige ehemalige Mitarbeiter des Senders führen Teile des Programms im Internet in der Plattform Multicult 2.0 weiter. Doch das bringt Radio MultiKulti trotzdem nicht wieder zurück. Anstatt ein paar Programme der 0815-Sender zu drosseln, musste ein einzigartiges, aber leider zu unbekannter, Sender weg. Auch bei den Öffentlich-Rechtlichen geht es nur um Geldmacherei. Schade, denn „Radio MultiKulti war die ganze Welt in einer Nussschale – ein tönender Globus, auf dem man im Bruchteil einer Sekunde von Alaska nach Patagonien reisen könnte“ um es mit Henryk M. Broders Worten im Tagesspiegel auszudrücken.

So feiert die Queen Weihnachten

2009-01-29T23:28:00.002Z

Artikel erschienen im Blicklicht, Januar 2009

Übel schmeckende Würstchen mit Schinken umrollt, brennender Kuchen und Metallstücke im Abendessen. Nein, ganz so schlimm ist meine Kochkunst auch nicht. Man muss all dies jedoch ertragen, wenn man bei einem Engländer zu Weihnachten zu Besuch is(s)t.

Die Briten fangen schon am 1. November mit dem Weihnachtsshopping an. Das ist auch die Zeit, in der die ersten Weihnachtslieder im Radio gespielt werden – und in der Disko. Und die meisten finden das sogar noch cool.

Während man im Supermarkt oft vergebens nach langen Reihen voller Schokoladenweihnachtsmänner und Lebkuchen sucht, machen die vielen Karten-Geschäfte Millionen-Gewinne. In England gibt es in jeder Straße mindestens drei Geschäfte, in denen man ausschließlich Karten für jede Gelegenheit kaufen kann. Zur Weihnachtszeit beginnt dann der Karten-Wettlauf. Wer bekommt die erste Karte? Wer bekommt die meisten? Die Errungenschaften werden im ganzen Haus auf Wäscheleinen gehangen.

Aber dies ist nicht die einzige Verunstaltung der englischen Wohnungseinrichtung zur Weihnachtszeit. Den Tannenbaum gibt es auf der Insel noch gar nicht so lange. Erst der deutsche Mann von Königin Viktoria hat diese Tradition mitgebracht. Der Baum wird also erst seit knapp zwei Jahrhunderten furchtbar kitschig beschmückt. Aber dabei bleibt es nicht. Wenn der Engländer an dem Punkt angelangt ist, dass nichts mehr auf den Tannenbaum passt, geht es in der gesamten Wohnung weiter. So wimmelt es im ganzen Haus und sogar im Garten nur so von glänzenden Kugeln, Ketten und Papierschlangen. Papierschlangen?

Die angeblich so zurückhaltenden Briten lassen Ende Dezember ganz schön die Sau raus. Nicht nur mit Papierschlangen, aber auch mit Papierhüten und Feuerwerk wird Sylvester schon mal eine Woche vorverlegt. Außerdem werden überall Mistelzweige aufgehängt. Treffen sich Mann und Frau unter einem dieser Zweige, müssen sie sich küssen. Das gibt ein Rumgeknutsche. Von wegen prüde Engländer.

Der 24. Dezember, in Deutschland der aufregendste aller Weihnachtstage, ist dagegen in England eher öde. Die Geschäfte haben bis nachts offen, damit noch schnell die letzten Besorgungen gemacht werden können. Die Engländer haben es nämlich nicht so mit der Pünktlichkeit, auch wenn allgemein das Gegenteil behauptet wird.

Deswegen gibt es die Geschenke verspätet, am 25. Dezember. Aber vielleicht braucht der Weihnachtsmann auch so lange bis nach England. Da kommt er nämlich erst früh um 2 Uhr an und muss durch sämtliche Schornsteine kriechen um seine Geschenke in den am Kamin hängenden Strümpfen zu verteilen. Weil er so einen langen Weg hatte, hat ihm jedes Kind einen Portwein und eine Schale Gebäck auf den Tisch gestellt.

Die Geschenke werden von den Kindern traditionell am 25. Dezember um 6 Uhr früh noch im Schlafanzug aufgefetzt, bevor sie der übermüdete Vater, noch betrunken vom Portwein, zur Weihnachtsmesse zerrt. Die Mutter bereitet währenddessen das spektakuläre Weihnachtsessen vor. Dieses besteht aus einem mit Maronen gefüllten Truthahn, Sojabohnen, Rosenkohl, Kartoffeln, Bratensoße, Preiselbehrsoße und Mini-Würstchen, die mit deutschen Wienern überhaupt nicht zu vergleichen sind, mit Schinken umrollt. Als Dessert gibt es das Highlight: Den brennenden Kuchen, auch Plumpudding genannt, der aus Früchten, Rosinen und Nierenfett hergestellt, mit Brandy übergossen und angezündet wird. Wer dann beim Verzehren ein Pence-Stück im Essen findet, darf sich was wünschen. Das ist ja wohl auch das Mindeste, was man erwarten kann, für den ausgebissenen Zahn.

Den Höhepunkt bildet die Weihnachtsrede der Queen, die von allen Engländern vor dem Fernseher verfolgt wird. Danach tanzen Kinder und Jugendliche maskiert im Wohnzimmer, während die Erwachsenen vor dem Kamin Gruselgeschichten lesen. Das war’s dann wohl mit der stillen Nacht, heiligen Nacht.

Angel by Sarah Mclachlan

2009-01-29T01:08:00.002Z

photo taken from 121musicblog

It would just be wrong finishing this series of features without mentioning Sarah McLachlan. Even though she is Canadian, she is a reasonable competitor to Paula Cole, Jewel, Tori Amos and Aimee Mann. That is why she should definitely be mentioned here.

Sarah McLachlan sounds like walking alone through the dark night. She sounds like a peaceful day out on a cemetery. She sounds like drinking wine out of a bottle. She sounds . . . like an angel.

Michelle Goldberg wrote in her feature on McLachlan's music: "It's like the best friend who hides out with you when you're at your lowest, the friend who makes you tea, puts you to bed and takes care of everything while you sob into a pillow."

She hit the nail on the head. Especially Sarah's song "Angel" is often used in emotional scenes in films such as "City of Angels" and TV- series such as "Dawson's Creek" and "Alias".

Sarah performed the song at Live 8 in Philadelphia in 2005 and on "Concert for Linda", a concert in memory of Linda McCartney.

I have mentioned the song in my post about "wander" in my group blog wandersee, but I want to go into more detail this time.

The song is musically very simplistic. Broken up piano chords and her voice singing a thought out melody with many variations is all the song consists of. It is fascinating that it does not get boring. It never does. Not after listening the song thousands of times. The singer just puts so much emotion in word and melody that you can't help but get goose bumps.

There is no official music video for this song, but the most watched is a life version of her singing the song. The video is as simple as the music, but by seeing her emotions in her face and her eyes, this video can't get boring.

The lyrics are one of the saddest in the world - but cheer you up at the same time. They tell you that even when your life is at its worst, you can still escape in "the arms of an angel".

How this angel looks like varies from person to person. On the internet platform SongMeanings, people share their feelings and memories of past ones that they think of when they listen to "Angel". They imagine that they will be taken by their dead loved ones when they feel bad and spend some time with them as a comfort.

Even the day dream of such a thing happening can be the angel, Sarah Mchlachlan is talking about. For me, the angel is a day dream - a dream world where you go in your imagination when you can't handle reality anymore.

Sarah McLachlan herself explained that the song was about Jonathan Melvoin, the Smashing Pumpkins' touring keyboarder, who died in 1996 due to an overdose on heroin. What Sarah meant by the angel was obviously heroin - another way from escaping from the real world.

As so often this week, here I conclude again that a song can mean so many different things to different people - which are the beauty of well-written lyrics as they seem to be written just for you.

photo taken from Neverlend

Wise Up by Aimee Mann

2009-01-29T01:08:00.001Z

photo published in The Independent

We all have bad habits. People smoke too much, drink too much, get too moody all the time or don't want to let go of people, even though they are long gone. Most of us are aware of our bad habits, but it is so hard to stop them. Often it is a vicious circle and suddenly all your life is related to this one problem you have got. It determines who you are. Aimee Mann gives a solution to that problem, singing: "It's not going to stop, so just . . . give up."

"Wise Up" by Aimee Mann is best known through the American drama film "Magnolia". The film connects stories of nine different people that all have a problem, either a drug addiction, guilt or the inability to forgive.

The song plays an essential role in this movie, as the characters start to sing it, when they realize that their problems are not going to stop - until they wise up.

To be honest, I am not into Aimee Mann's music at all. I do not like her broken lines, she sings as if she is about to fall asleep, the lyrics are too straightforward and her voice annoys me. "Wise Up" still sounds like Aimee is speaking in a clipped manner, the text is as simplistic as "Knocking on heaven's door" and song consists of one piano pattern. However, the piano is a musical device, Aimee Mann does not use in other songs. Most of her songs are dominated by a guitar. But in "Wise Up" Aimee Mann is just accompanied by a piano, which I prefer to her guitar sound, because it is more emotional.

The reason why I like this song is because I love the lyrics. They might be straightforward, but so true. Since I am suffering from depression for more than six years now, I know how hard it is to give up.

Being depressed becomes something you get used to. It's like lying in bed and not wanting to get up and start the day. I feel more comfortable with my self-pity.

The second verse goes like this:

You think
One drink
Will shrink you 'til you're underground
and living down
but it's not going to stop
'til you wise up

This is an allusion to Alice in Wonderland. She was on this adventure, discovering a new world. What she found out was that grass is not greener on the other side. I felt like Alice in Wonderland when I came to England. But, of course, it did not take me long to realize that I can't run away from my problems. So I had to wise up, give up running away, give up my self-pity and change the way I think and the way I was.

Giving up, letting go, forgiving - no one says that this is easy. You don't do it once. No, you have to do it over and over again. Aimee Mann's "Wise Up" gives me the power to give up every day. Because she is right.

Taxi Ride by Tori Amos

2009-01-29T01:06:00.000Z

photo taken from Amazon

People listening to Tori Amos are not really listening to the music, but to the lyrics. Even though this singer-songwriter is a great pianist, who can play on two pianos at the same time, the songs are all about the lyrics. Tori Amos' poetry is not straightforward, but twisted. They are puzzles and riddles.

The beauty of her songs lies in the mysteriousness. They seem to be like a crossword puzzle, impossible to solve. It sometimes takes years to understand the lyrics. It only dawns on you how deep a song goes if you are in a certain situation that is described in a Tori Amos song.

On the internet platform SongMeanings, Fans discuss the meaning of songs very enthusiastically. By following up some of the comments, it soon becomes clear that the lyrics are so open that it can mean different things to different people.

"Taxi Ride" from the Album "Scarlet's Walk" is my personal favourite. That is maybe because it can applies to feelings I often have, especially after parties. For me this song is about loneliness.

I do not have many friends, which does not mean that I do not go out. In today's society you have to be sociable. You often have parties with people that you don't really care about, or they don't care about you. It is all fine when you get drunk and have fun with them, but when you sit in the taxi on your way home, you have got time to reflect on your night and it is then, when you realize that you are lonely.

A fan commented on the lyrics, that you can get the feeling of the song easier when you sit in a taxi in New York. She then said: "Tori songs are more feelings than real words."

Some people assume that the song is about Tori's gay friend, the make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin, who died in May 2002 due to brain cancer, as she sings: "just another dead fag to you, that's all". One interpretation is that Tori settles up with Kevyn's mother, who couldn't care less about her son. Others say it is just Tori's way to deal with the funeral and the aftermath of his death in general.

At the end of the day that does not matter. Tori's songs are written so that they fit into everyone's life. She seems to do that on purpose, which is probably an art in itself.

Tori Amos never produced a music video for this song. However, she let other people make one for her within the context of a contest called "Taxi Vision". The winner video seemed to have disappeared from the internet, but there are a lot of other films out there that did not win but are still great.

My favourite "Taxi Ride"-video is featuring an old woman in an old people's home. She seems to be really lonely and in her rocking chair - in her mind on that Taxi Ride, she realizes that she has got no one after all these years she attend this party called life. The nurse notices the old woman's sadness and takes care of her.

This is my interpretation. The video got very good comments, but people also said that it was not related to the song. I think it is. People were also mentioning that it was more an allusion to other Tori Amos videos.

Here again, it is up to the audience to decide. I have to admit that I do not even like the voice of Tori Amos and most of her songs are far too slow. But still, she is one of my favourite musicians, because she has got the ability to write magical songs. It is always so much fun to interpret so many different things in her songs.

Down so long by Jewel

2009-01-08T16:58:00.000Z

single cover taken from Mattcdsingles

A cute, young voice is singing poems to simple guitar rhythms. That is exactly how Jewel sounds like. Her name puts it into context: Very simple - but brilliant. When you hear the first guitar motif of "down so long" with a "budubiduda"-fill in, you just know that it is a Jewel-song.

In the song Jewel describes her depressive state of mind and how bad she is feeling. She has literally been down too long and is fed up with it. In the chorus she thinks much more positive, hoping that her misery will soon be over, when she sings: "I have been down so long, that the end must be drawing near."

The lyrics of the song are very straight forward, but poetic at the same time. Jewel uses many comparisons such as "my pocketbook and my heart both just got stolen, and the sun acts like she don't even care," or "it feels like someone's face is stuck to the bottom of my shoe".

The cheery guitar rhythm that makes you whistle to the song and wiggle your hips seem to be a contradiction to the content of the song. In the music video you can even see Jewel dancing to the lines "I have been down so long".

But rhythm and melody play a central part in the interpretation of the song. "Down so long" is not another depressing song that we listen to when we are lovesick and cry our eyes out. The song should give hope and send out the message that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

In the second verse Jewel sings: "I looked to everybody but me to answer my prayers, 'til I saw an angel in a bathroom who said she saw no one worth saving anywhere." These lines, together with the mood of the song, tells the listener to take destiny in his own hands.

We can either lay down in bed and feel miserable, or do something about it, get up and be happy about the amazing time that is coming, because: There is always light at the end of the tunnel.

The music video is quite dull as it just shows her sitting, lying or playing with the band. Like other Jewel-music videos it just about her singing in front of the camera. But that doesn't matter that much, because the music as well as the lyrics are great.

I don't want to wait by Paula Cole

2008-12-31T18:25:00.000Z

photo taken from Amazon

It was because of the teenage series Dawson's Creek that I found out about my role model Paula Cole. "I don't want to wait" did not only become the hymn of my favourite series, but soon also my obsession. I was covering that song and it was part of many gigs I have been doing in my early music "career". Still today, people call me up, saying: "Hey, I just listened to 'I don't want to wait' by Paula Cole on the radio and I could not help but think of you. So how are you doing?"

The song is best known as the opening theme of the teenage series Dawsons’s Creek. Thanks to this the second release of the Album This Fire became a #11 pop hit single in 1997.

The text is a homage to carpe diem. The message is to live in the present and not in the past. You should not look back as life is too short to live in the past and think about every step you take.

"I don't want to wait" starts with the singer’s appeal to “open up your morning light and say a little prayer” for her. The use of piano chords makes the beginning very gentle.

The mood of the song then changes, when the drums start to play a forward pushing rhythm. Paula Cole paints a picture of a woman in 1944, waiting for her husband to come home from the front. She is using a monotonous melody to keep the verse in a story-telling style.

This then leads to the chorus that has a carpe diem theme: “I don’t want to wait, for our lives to be over.” To emphasize the change, the singer uses her head-voice, which shows more emotions than the verse.

The second verse is coming back to the illustration, telling the listener what happens when people wait: The man has returned from war – as a grandfather- , but the war still lives inside him, which makes it so hard “to be gentle and warm”. The chorus starts off again, telling you that you are better off not waiting.

Suddenly the mood changes completely and the use of blue notes portrays anger. That is typical of Paula Cole, as she is not afraid to sing “badly” to show her emotions. Paula Cole’s music is sometimes not nice and gentle, but hard and ugly, because her music always goes with the lyrics.

Her music is often not easy to listen to. Especially her newest album is more jazzy and a bit twisted. This makes her work really arty, which is probably why that artist is only known as the woman who wrote the Dawson's creek theme.

"I don't want to wait" is an exception. Apart from the few blue notes and the anger in the middle of the song, the melody is simple and it is easy to listen to. The art here lies more in the lyrics and the structure of the song. It might be one of Paula's easiest songs, but the structure is brilliantly thought-out.

The music video is sophisticated as well. It features Paula Cole as the story-teller in the beginning and then continues showing her in different times with different men. All men die. Pictured as an immortal creature, the protagonist has enough authority to give the advise to seize the day to their listeners as she has lost so many loved ones. She experienced that everthing has to come to an end and knows about the importance to live a life, instead of thinking about it.

Buskers: Breakfast for dog-eat-dog society

2008-12-30T13:09:00.001Z

photo by Daily Mail

Tom Jones attracted hundreds of people while busking on London's South Bank for charity last Wednesday. His performance, consisting of a medley of his own songs as well as some covers, thrilled a huge crowd that was trying to make the best pictures of the 68-year-old singer. One man even climbed on a tree to get a better look at him, AFP revealed. Some members of the crowd supported him with backing vocals. Why isn’t it always like that? Why do you have to be a Tom Jones to attract such a huge and impressed crowd when busking?

Society is looking down on buskers. The stereotype is that they are unemployed, beggars or homeless. Some people refuse to give them money as they think the buskers will spend it on drugs. Other people heckle them or steal their money.

The Independent’s journalist Robert Hanks put it this way: “Traditionally, busking has been the province of toothless old men with penny-whistles and annoying students trying to sound like Bob Dylan and succeeding all too well.”

Other people complain about the noise, saying it is distracting them from their work in the office. Authorities are mad at buskers because they think the music will be even heard in nearby houses and churches. I am occasionally busking in my home town Cottbus in Germany and I have to face all these prejudices. Some people even go one step further saying that I should not beg for money since my mother is driving a BMW and my father a Mercedes.

But I dont busk for money. I don’t think many people do. I don’t even keep the money. Everything that I am earning from playing cover songs on the street is given to charity. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get anything out of it. It makes me happy to hear passers-by saying “she’s got a wonderful voice” when I am singing “Everybody hurts” by R.E.M. The best gift I can get from a kid that I have not seen before is a smile when I play the first chords of “Animal Instinct” by The Cranberries. I am amazed by those businessmen, who have been rushing to get back to the office but stopped to hear me sing and play “Kiss me” by Sixpence Non The Richer. These workaholics, who try to forget their loneliness by spending their life in the office, touch me when they take a break to listen to a song that reminds them of their ex-wives. It makes me laugh when bicyclists nearly drive into lampposts because they get distracted by me.

Buskers put passers-by in the good mood and encourage them to forget about their busy and miserable lives for a few minutes. What they might get back is much more valuable than money. They get back feedback, a smile and the knowledge that they made someone feel good for a short while. I feel sorry for those people who have prejudices against busking and complain about the noise. They obviously lack the ability to switch off their grumpiness. They are just miserable.

People in England seem to appreciate the art of busking much more. A BBC audio shows people’s views on busking. Passers-by say busking would “brighten up the place”, “work for tourists” and “get a nice atmosphere”, as long as it is not “too much in-your-face”.

In England buskers have to go to an audition to be allowed to busk on the underground or on the street. The quality of busking music is therefore much better than the one you can hear in Germany as everyone is allowed to busk everywhere for up to 30 minutes. That is probably why Britons appreciate this art more.

Even though the public opinion about buskers is slightly more positive in England, it doesn’t mean buskers have more importance in their lives. Tim Rutherford Johnson said in his post "Busking Bell" his blog "Rambler":

“Whenever I’m on the Underground, it’s usually because I have to be somewhere, by a certain time. That’s what I’m doing: buskers are great, and I often enjoy them, but it would take a hell of a lot more than Joshua Bell playing Bach to make me break my appointment and stop and listen for any length of time.”

But why is that so? People in England as well as Germany live in a dog-eat-dog society where everyone just minds their own business. They are staying in the office for more than twelve hours, have shorter breaks and much more work to do. Everything is getting more expensive and people just have too much to worry about: They want to please everyone, keep their jobs and own expensive cars. But what is the point in having an expensive car when you do not have time to travel? What is the point in losing yourself by trying to keep your job? What is the point pleasing everyone but yourself?

We all have to be nicer with each other. A simple smile can enhance the whole day. One minute of relaxation can improve your life. One nice word to someone else can not only make them but also you feel better.

The reason why Tom Jones attracted such a huge crowd is that those people wanted to show off by telling people they had listened to a celebrity. If he had played the same songs without being famous, they clearly wouldn’t have bothered.

Today's Society is Suicide

2008-12-07T00:06:00.003Z

photo from Jac Jac's World

During the three days I spent in bed due to fever, a horrible headache and tonsilitis I was more worried about not being able to do my group blog assignment for university, screwing a presentation next Tuesday and not getting done with an essay a week before the deadline than thinking about my health. I couldn't help but wonder: Why are we always busy thinking about success when, at the end of the day, staying alive is the real success.

I only went to the doctor to get a paper for uni that says that I am ill. I'm glad I went as the doctor said I need antibiotics. Tonsilitis without a treatment with antibiotics can be dangerous for the heart. And I only thought about the stupid paper for uni.

I told my friend I could not come in to uni because of tonsilitis. She laughed at me saying, I clearly could come to uni with tonsilitis as her brother went to school for his GCSE exam with bronchitus. But, what's a GCSE worth when you are dead?

So many people go to work ill...or half dead. They work for twelve hours, get bullied and feel worse the next morning. Then they take a pill and go to work again.
Seriously, we HAVE to treat our bodies better.

I might sound like a hypocrit to some people. Here in England people call me the "beer lady" as I loved to drink two or three beers every day. I smoked for seven years and my eating behaviour was not that of a role model as well. Did you notice the tense?

I had to go through a lot to learn how horrible I am treating my body. At the beginning of this year, I had circulation problems daily, a mysterious stomach pain that no one could explain and on top of that I could not leave the house alone anymore. I was just a mess. I went to doctors nearly every day, but all they did was doing tests. Just when I started considering to take a year off from university, I had an encounter with a man who is into chinese medicine.

This chinese non-medical practitioner was able to cure me from my stomach pain and my circulation problems. He stopped drinking (at least on a daily basis) and I quit smoking. I changed my whole eating behaviour, which is not easy here in England where the food is just bad and people do not even know what spelt is. (I have to get all my health food and my tea from Germany, which is just ridiculous). Moreover, most of my problems are the result of my ongoing worries about being perfect. I always want to be the best, want to get the highest marks and feel depressed when I make mistakes. I did not realized how I damage my body with that.

Friends of mine sometimes do not eat for one day. They smoke, they drink, they take all kinds of drugs. They go out partying even though they are ill. They work all night, all weekends, because they want to earn as much money as possible and get the highest marks. One of my friends died three years ago, because he did not bother to take his antibiotics properly. He did not take his illness seriously, and made the worst mistake of his life.

Unfortunately society is like that. It is hard to relax and just listen to your body. You will be left behind by competitive society. Your rivals never rest.

When I was lying in bed on Thursday morning with fever, I thought I had made a mistake not going to university and pitching my idea for the group blog. Now I am convinced that I made the right decision. The body we have is something precious. It is the shell of our mind and we'd better not mess up with it as life can be over just like that.

GESICHT ZEIGEN Festival blieb Gesichtslos

2008-12-05T21:30:00.000Z

photo from flickr

„Mehr Bildung für Faschisten,“ steht auf einem Aufkleber an einer Toilettentür der Mädchen auf dem Campus-Gelände der Brandenburgischen Technischen Universität in Cottbus, auf dem das diesjährige Sommerfest unter dem Motto: „Gesicht zeigen – Laut gegen Nazis“ am 28. 06. statt fand.

Einige wenige trugen T-Shirts mit der Aufschrift: „Ich bin laut - gegen Nazis“, aber diese fielen gar nicht auf, in der Masse von Fan-Shirts der Ärzte, Mia und den Wir sind Helden. Letztere waren das i-Tüpfelchen der Veranstaltung, unterstützt von K.I.Z., Boundzound und der regionalen Band Garp. Das Festival sollte ein Statement abgeben, eine Meinung gegen Gewalt und Rassismus.

Namensgeber des Events war der Verein Gesicht zeigen! Aktion weltoffenes Deutschland e.V., der gegen Rassismus und für Toleranz kämpft. Prominente wie Henry Maske und Günter Jauch sind Mitglieder dieses Vereins. Die Geschäftsführerin Rebecca Weis (45) erklärt: „Gerade im Sommer 2000 gab es viele rechtsradikale Übergriffe. Das erinnerte sehr an das organisierte Verbrechen.“

Nationalsozialistische Parteien erhalten immer mehr Macht und neuen Zulauf. Auch in Brandenburg lassen die Kommunalwahlen nicht mehr lange auf sich warten, und somit auch die Chance der Rechten, in die kommunalen Parlamente zu gelangen und sich somit eine Basis für die Landtagswahlen 2009 aufzubauen. In Cottbus ist es schon zu zahlreichen Übergriffen von Neonazis auf ausländische oder anders denkende Studenten der BTU Cottbus gekommen. Aus diesem Anlass wurde die Festival-Idee ins Leben gerufen, um sowohl der NPD als auch den kleinen, gewalttätigen Nazis auf der Straße zu zeigen, dass viele Menschen nicht mit rechter Gewalt und den neuen Ideen des Nationalsozialismus einverstanden sind.

Erwartet wurden mehr als 3000 Menschen, doch diese Rechnung ging nicht auf. Nicht einmal 1000 Besucher zeigten an diesem Samstag ihr Gesicht. Woran lag es?

Franziska Schmidt (20) hat eine Freikarte bekommen und war eigentlich nur wegen der Musik da. „Es ist einfach zu teuer,“ sagte sie. Sie meint, der Preis von 20 Euro an der Vorverkaufskasse habe wahrscheinlich alle abgeschreckt. Dafür, dass diese Veranstaltung von Studenten für Studenten organisiert wurde, waren relativ wenige davon anzutreffen. Franziska selbst konnte nur einige ausmachen. „Studenten haben eben kein Geld,“ versucht sie das Wegbleiben der Studierenden zu erklären.

Während sich auf dem Campus nur wenige Lausitzer aufhielten, und Garp vor ca. 50 Menschen spielen durften oder mussten, versammelten sich andere hinter der Absperrung, in der Hoffnung, etwas hören oder sogar sehen zu können. Eine 20-jährige Studentin, die anonym bleiben möchte, stand ganz traurig hinter der Absperrung. „Ich habe kein Geld. Ich dachte, wenn schon mal was gegen Rassismus veranstaltet wird, sollte man auch hingehen, aber 25 Euro an der Abendkasse sind echt zu viel,“ beschwert sie sich. „Das ist schon eine Frechheit, gerade in so einer Nazi-Stadt wie Cottbus.“

Paul Schäpe (21), ein Student, der sich die Karte leisten konnte, ist trotzdem enttäuscht. „Prinzipiell ist diese Veranstaltung eine gute Idee, aber bis jetzt habe ich gegen Rechts nur den Stand hinter mir mitbekommen,“ kommentiert er. Der Stand hinter Paul machte Werbung für die Kampagne „Laut Gegen Nazis“ unter die das Festival lief. Diese Kampagne zeigt auf solchen Veranstaltungen immer wieder Präsenz und kämpft mit medialer Kraft gegen Rechts. Björn Minge, Mitglied der Kampagne, meint, Festivals wie das GESICHT ZEIGEN seien „wichtig, um junge Leute dazu zu bringen, über das Thema nachzudenken.“

Schon vorab gab es scharfe Kritik. Überraschenderweise fielen Verbal-Attacken der Nazis aus. Dafür gab es umso mehr Anfeindungen von Linken und Demokraten, die meinten, das Festival sei inhaltlich zu schwach, eine reine Musikveranstaltung eben.

Das Problem war die fehlende Unterstützung vom Studienrat, der dieses Event als „sinnlos“ bezeichnet hätte, sowohl Studenten als auch Stiftungen und Organisationen. Große Organisationen wollten mit dieser Veranstaltung einfach nichts zu tun haben, weil diese gegen Rassismus war. Begründung: Eine Anstalt öffentlichen Rechts dürfe nicht politisch sein. So konnte nur auf viele Besucher gehofft werden, die bereit waren ihr Gesicht zu zeigen und ihr Portemonnaie zu leeren.

Die Veranstalter selbst gingen dabei aber mit schlechtem Beispiel voran. Diese wollten weder gefilmt, noch mit Namen genannt werden, aus Angst vor rechtsradikalen Übergriffen.

Saskia Löbner (21) versteht die Welt nicht mehr. Sie war schon 2006 bei einem BTU Campus Festival. Damals haben Juli gespielt und es war „rappenvoll“. Dies lief allerdings nicht unter dem Namen: Gesicht zeigen gegen Gewalt und Rassismus.

„So eine Veranstaltung mit diesem Statement sollte öffentlich, und für alle zugänglich sein,“ sagte Saskia.

Selbst die Band Wir Sind Helden war sichtlich enttäuscht von der kleinen Menschenmasse. Engagiert animierten sie Publikumsrufe wie „Gegen Rechts, Gegen Rechts“ und beim nächsten Mal mehr Leute mitzubringen. Judith Holofernes, Sängerin der Band, sagte: „Wir könnten den Platz noch füllen. Ihr müsst nur schnell genug hin- und herlaufen.“

Lag es nun an der fehlenden Organisation? An der Idee? An der Angst der Besucher, Gesicht zu zeigen? In Cottbus wohnen vielleicht ein paar Nazis zu viel, aber dafür sind auch die Anti-Rassisten nicht wenige. Neben der Antifa, der linken Szene und den Punkern im Park gibt es noch viele andere, aus allen Altersklassen, die gegen Rechts sind. Vielleicht sollte man beim nächsten Mal einfach realistischer sein und nicht so bekannte Bands einladen, die man eh nicht bezahlen kann. Um den Eintrittspreis so gering wie möglich zu halten, müssen eben regionale, kleine Bands her. Dann steigen auch die Besucherzahlen und somit die Gesichter, die gegen Rechts gezeigt werden.

published in indymedia

Bad eggs

2008-11-28T18:02:00.001Z

photo by Welt online

A German egg producer sold millions of his eggs coming from caging chicken as free range chicken eggs, the animal conservationist PETA revealed last Wednesday.

Edmund Haferbeck from PETA said that the producer in Brandenburg, a region in east Germany, sold at least 300 million eggs a year with a fake labelling to several super market chains all over Germany.

The animals were not kept in ways appropriate to their species. Nevertheless, they were sold as free range chicken eggs. PETA assumes that the producer made a higher profit of seven million Pounds (ten million Euro) because of the higher price of free range chicken eggs.

How awful is that? I always buy the better eggs. Better eggs? I know the free range chicken eggs are smaller and just don’t look that nice but I know that it comes from a happy chicken.

I don’t understand how you can earn your living from keeping thousands of hens in cages that are obviously far too small. Do the people working in such a place actually think about what they are doing? Everyone thinks with horror of the Holocaust. Why is it then ok to hold chicken like that? In my point of view it is a crime as well.

I know I am not the only one thinking like that. Some people, who do not have much money, relinquish their chocolate or cigarettes to be able to buy eggs from happy chickens rather than products of animal cruelty. Now it is shocking to find out that those people, probably including me, were actually eating those eggs. You can’t say: It is the thought that counts.

With every egg you bought, you were supporting animal cruelty. And people were not even aware of it. This producer has hurt the dignity of many Germans and I hope he will be punished accordingly.

The Wall Street Journal's blogger hunt

2008-11-28T17:58:00.001Z

photo by Sophie Borazanian

Neil McIntosh is to start hiring bloggers and business journalists for the Wall Street Journal Europe edition in the next year, he revealed at a talk with students of the University of Westminster last Thursday.

The outgoing editorial director of the Guardian online is becoming the editor of the European edition of WSJ.com, the Wall Street Journal’s website.

“There are only a few jobs left for digital journalism,” Neil McIntosh said. He sees his new job as a “good opportunity to try out new things”.

He is dismissing criticism of Rupert Murdoch buying the Wall Street Journal. “I heard nothing but good things,” McIntosh said. He is certain that the Journal’s journalism will not change through the new ownership.

The Journal managing editor, Marcus Brauchli, stepped down due to a shift in the focus of articles, The Wall Street Journal revealed in April. Critical voices claimed that there has been more emphasis on shorter news stories and more general news since Rupert Murdoch owns the paper.

“It is very hard to leave the Guardian,” admitted McIntosh. In his blog, he said it was a privilege to work there, building up blogs and launching the audio and video services.

He was working for the Guardian for more than nine years. It was Neil McIntosh, who started building blogs, one of the most successful parts of the Guardian website. He revealed that the website had half a million page views a month before "comment is free" was launched. More than two years later the page views have increased to ten million.

Are sex blogs sexier?

2008-11-20T23:57:00.000Z

Today, Neil McIntosh, the editorial director of the Guardian Unlimited, came to our class to play "press conference" with the students. I was very excited about it, as he is working for my favourite news outlet . Actually, he will be leaving that paper soon but I will write more on that very soon. To be honest, I cannot believe he is leaving the Guardian. It is my favourite newspaper and I love its editorial standpoint. My biggest dream is to work for the Guardian some day. Mr. McIntosh, if you don't want your job anymore, I would be more than happy to take it.

In his talk Neil McIntosh pointed out the importance of journalist students having a blog. He was saying an regularly updated blog teaches students those tools that they need later in online journalism. Additionally he said, it would be a great way to show what you can do and how motivated you are.

The reason why I started my blog "It's the thought that counts" is because I know that it looks good on my CV.In his blog Neil McIntosh wrote: "As long as we publish digitally, we will be discussed. Our work will always be social, unless what we produce is so narrow or lacking in interest nobody gives a damn."

No one is discussing my work, Mr. McIntosh. Not even my friends are reading it. I don't think that is because they don't give a damn, to put it in your words. I even posted my articles that were published in magazines. At least the editor gave a damn about them then.
One of my friends recently started a blog and she is telling her readers all about her life regularly. That might include information about what she just watched on the television, whom she kissed last weekend or why she ended up playing strip poker with strangers the other night. People do seem to read her blog and now she is preparing for a podcast because people are so interested in her life. Do I have to talk about my sex life to get people reading my blog?

Anarchy in the school

2008-11-20T22:59:00.000Z

Thousands of German school students skipped their lessons and went on the streets of the country's big cities to protest against the school system, BBC revealed this Wednesday. In Berlin 5000 students were striking, in Hamburg even 6000 this Wednesday alone. Pupils from the age of 10 onwards were voicing their anger with overcrowded classrooms, the lack of teachers and huge exam pressures in Germany.

Well, they have a point there. In the Germany's Eastern part you have an unemployment rate of up to 20 per cent. Even people with an Abitur (similar to A-level) have difficulties to find a job or even to get into university. Moreover, students are even attending lectures at university for years and years, but when they finish - they just cannot find a job. This is really depressing.
People who do not even get into the Gymnasium (grammar school) have little or no chance to make a living. If you miss the chance to get good marks in the first years of your school career, you will be stuck in lower educational schools, called Gesamtschule or in the worst case, the Hauptschule, a school, where teachers are scared of their students and struggle to teach them anything at all.

Once struck in such a school, it is very hard to catch up. Because of the three different education systems you cannot swap to different schools easily, even if you turn out be more intelligent than you proved to be in the first couple of years while attending school.

Therefore it is understandable that students make a big fuss and go on strike.
What is out of proportion is that they run into universities and devastate and smash up everything that is on their way.

The German magazine Der Spiegel reported on students rioting in Berlin's Humboldt-University. They burnt toilet paper, torn fire extinguishers from walls and even destroyed a Holocaust exhibitionin in the university's foyer.

Now, that's a thing you just can't do. Voicing your anger in public is all right when necessary. But anarchy is not the answer. Even the Nazis discovered that you don't get any respect by beating up people and smashing things.

When i heard about people striking against the current education system, I thought: Yay, finally someone is actually doing something against it. But with violent action the whole story just loses its serious angle. Now concerned students became bad revolutionists who vandalise in public institutions. Guys, seriously, your message won't be heard through vandalism. Calm down and most of all, grow up.

photo published in indymedia

ALDI und LIDL erobern die Welt

2008-11-14T21:56:00.000Z

Dass die Engländer nicht die leckerste Küche der Welt haben, ist weit verbreitet. Engländer lieben Milch im Tee, Essig auf Chips und klebriges Toastbrot an den Zähnen. Ich habe im ersten Jahr hier in London mit Dr. Oetker Pizza Hawaii, den Kühne Gewürzgurken und den Müller Joghurts, die es in jedem englischen Supermarkt gibt, mein Heimweh versorgt. Auch habe ich das Gelächter über mich ergehen lassen, wenn ich meine „Stullen“ ausgepackt habe. Die Engländer lachen darüber und nennen es „Früchtebrot“, andere wissen gar nicht was es ist.
Ansonsten habe ich versucht, mich anzupassen und das zu essen, was auf den Tisch kommt bzw. in den Supermarkt. Doch Irgendwann hörte ich, dass es auch LIDL und ALDI in England gibt. Voller Hoffnung auf genießbare Lebensmittel machte ich mich also auf den Weg.

Als ich aus der U-Bahnstation „Kingsbury“ trat, befand ich mich in einer anderen Welt. Fast alle Menschen auf der Straße hatten ihre Köpfe mit Tüchern bedeckt und unterhielten sich in Sprachen, die ich nicht verstand. Neben ALDI wurden orientalische Teppiche verkauft und Fleisch aus dem Tariq Halal Geschäft. Als ich aber den kleinen Konsum betrat, befand ich mich auf einmal in Deutschland. Ich langte sofort zu den „Schogetten“, die ich noch nie zuvor in England gesehen hatte. Gleich daneben lagen kleine Schokoladenweihnachtsmänner. Ich musste lachen, weil mich das an den letzten Nikolaus erinnerte, an dem ich ein Päckchen voller Schokoladenweihnachtsmänner von meiner Mutter erhielt. Meine Mitbewohner starrten mit offenem Mund auf die Süßigkeiten. So etwas hatten sie in ihrem Leben noch nicht gesehen.
Weiter ging es zu den so typisch deutschen Supermarktwühltischen, die so gut wie alles beinhalten. Von Töpfen zu Seidenstrumpfhosen, Bügelbrettern und kleinen Holzregalen.

Als ich mich LIDL näherte, bekam ich gleich einen ganz Hauch Deutschland ins Gesicht gepustet. Vor dem Eingang standen Einkaufswagen, in denen man Ein-Pfund-Stücke stecken musste, um sie zu benutzen. Für den Deutschen ist das das Normalste der Welt, nicht aber für den Engländer. Erst heute früh bin ich über eine Leiche von Einkaufswagen gestolpert, die von betrunkenen Studenten vom Supermarkt um die Ecke mitgenommen wurde. Beliebt ist hier das Spiel: „Wer landet zuerst, in einem Einkaufswagen sitzend, im Busch?“
Auch von innen sah dieser Supermarkt genauso aus wie mein LIDL-Supermarkt bei mir zu Hause in Deutschland.

Als ich am „Vitafit Multivitamin Fruchtsaft“ und den „Haselnusswaffeln mit Schokolade“ vorbeilief, dachte ich, ich hätte Deutschland nie verlassen. Spätestens nach der „Gewürzgurken Auslese“ und den „Kräuterbutterbaguettes“, die es sonst nirgendwo in England gibt, fragte ich mich ernsthaft, woher die Engländer wissen, was sie da kaufen. Alles war auf Deutsch.
Der Biertrinker kommt hier auch nicht zu kurz. Will jemand in England deutsches Bier, muss er Becks trinken oder zu Lidl gehen. Dort gibt es „Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse“, „Grafenwalder“ und „Finkbräu“.

Trotz des riesigen Angebots an deutschen Produkten sind die meisten Käufer weder deutsch, noch englisch. Dafür verhalten sie sich dann auf die typisch deutsche Art. Während die Käufer in anderen englischen Supermärkten sich entschuldigen, dass man ihnen auf die Füße tritt, rumpeln die LIDL-Käufer rücksichtslos durch die Gassen, rempeln andere Leute an, ohne sich zu entschuldigen und entfachen Kriege an den auch bei LIDL vorhandenen Wühltischen.
Auch das Nichtvorhandensein von vegetarischen Produkten fiel bei den LIDL- und ALDI-Supermärkten in England auf. Nun ist dies nichts Neues. Schön wäre es aber doch, wenn die verschiedenen Kulturen voneinander lernen könnten. Denn Vegetarier fühlen sich bei Sainsbury’s und Tesco wie im Paradies, da sie eine riesige Auswahl von vegetarischen Produkten auf mindestens zwei Regalen verteilt, haben. Zugegeben, dafür hat der Chips-Esser dann auch die gleiche Auswahl an Chips.

Während die Deutschen das Angebot an vegetarischen Nahrungsmitteln überdenken sollten, wäre frischere Ware in England angebracht. In englischen Internetforen schwärmen die ALDI- und LIDL-Fans von dem frischen Obst und dem lange haltenden Toastbrot. Kauft man etwas in englischen Supermärkten, muss man es innerhalb der nächsten zwei Tage essen. Drei Tage nach dem Kauf ist das Toastbrot dann komplett grün.

Auch die Verkäufer in den englischen deutschen Supermärkten sind genauso unfreundlich wie zu Hause. Geht man in einen englischen Supermarkt, wird man immer gefragt, wie es einem geht. Natürlich steht man dafür auch länger an, denn Rentner fangen dann manchmal an, ihre Lebensgeschichte zu erzählen. Auch packen die Verkäufer die Einkaufstüten, was gut gemeint ist, aber viel zu lange dauert.

Fazit: Will man eine Lebensmittelvergiftung in England umgehen, empfiehlt sich ab und zu ein Gang in einen deutschen Supermarkt. Legt man beim Einkaufen jedoch mehr Wert darauf, auf die feine englische Art behandelt zu werden, dann lohnt sich ein Besuch eines englischen Supermarktes eher.

Ich für meinen Teil werde wohl jetzt immer zwischen deutschen und englischen Supermarktketten hin- und herpendeln, denn in der Zwischenzeit habe ich auch die englische Esskultur schätzen gelernt und viel mehr noch die Umgangsweise in den Supermärkten. Vielleicht sollten sich die beiden Kulturen austauschen – sie würden beide nur Vorteile daraus ziehen.

published in Blicklicht (page 7), November 2008

God save the Queen

2008-10-12T23:53:00.000+01:00

written in may 2008

Wurdest du schon einmal von Polizisten ausgelacht, die selbstverständlich bei Rot eine Straße überquerten, während du auf der anderen Straßenseite brav auf Grün gewartet hast? Wurdest du schon öfters fast von Autos angefahren, die aus der falschen Richtung kamen? War dir schon einmal übel, nachdem du Essigchips und dunkelbraune Hefepaste gegessen hast?
Hast du dich schon mal gewundert, dass du um Mitternacht kein Bier in einer Kneipe bekommst, mit der Begründung, die Bar mache jetzt zu?

Wenn du diese Fragen mit „nein“ beantworten kannst, dann hast du wohl noch nie die Verrücktheit der Engländer am eigenen Leibe gespürt. Diese geben es sogar zu, anders zu sein, denn in ihrer Nationalhymne sagen diese ja selbst: „God, save the Queen.“
Von den Klischees braucht man hier gar nicht erst anfangen. Klischees heißen Klischees, weil sie Klischees sind und würden sie Tatsachen sein, dann würden wir sie Tatsachen nennen.

Das regnerische Wetter in England? Ein Klischee. Der englische Humor? Ein Klischee. Die Pünktlichkeit? Ein Klischee. Das schlechte Essen? Eine Tatsache.
Salz kennen Engländer nicht. Chips, Popcorn und Pommes Frites ohne Salz machen jedes Essen zum langweiligsten Ereignis des Tages. Gerne jedoch benutzen sie aber Essig, welches sich dann in Brotaufstrichen, Chips und jeder warmen Mahlzeit befindet. Ganz beliebt ist Marmite, eine dunkelbraune Hefepaste, die scharf und sehr streng schmeckt. Diese gibt es aber eher zum Mittag, denn sein warmes Frühstück mit Eiern, Speck, Bohnen und Würstchen kann man keinem Engländer nehmen. Kein Wunder, bei der englischen Brotqualität. Dazu gibt es dann Tee gemischt mit Milch. Engländer sind stolz auf ihr Essen und können gar nicht verstehen, wie man behaupten kann, es sei schlecht. Wer in England bei den dort vorhandenen deutschen Supermarkt-Ketten Lidl oder Aldi einkaufen geht, wird von anderen mit einem Naserümpfen begrüßt. Dabei ist auch ein englischer Supermarkt wie Tesco oder Sainsbury’s mit beliebten Produkten von Dr. Oetker, Kühne und Müller überfüllt.

Schon in solchen Supermärkten selbst zeigt sich die Andersartigkeit der Engländer.
Hunderte von Menschen quälen sich durch die Gänge, auf der Suche nach den besten, leckersten oder eben auch billigsten Nahrungsmitteln. Bei diesem Gedränge schafft dieses Volk es trotzdem, sich niemals zu berühren oder in den Weg des anderen zu kommen. Wenn dann doch einmal so ein deutscher Student, wie ich, in all seiner Hektik mit dem Einkaufswagen in den eines anderen Käufers fährt oder auf dessen Fuß tritt, dann entschuldigt sich der Engländer, dafür, dass er im Weg war – und das ohne Ironie. Nachdem man eine halbe Stunde brav und geduldig an der Kasse angestanden hat – denn das scheint die Lieblingsbeschäftigung dieser Inselbewohner zu sein – wird einem der Einkauf von den Verkäufern in viele kostenlose Einkaufstüten eingepackt. Es ist dort Gewohnheit, nicht mehr als fünf Nahrungsmittel in einen Beutel zu packen. So werden laut NTV im Jahr etwa drei Milliarden Plastiktüten an Konsumenten verteilt. Bei einem Großeinkauf kommen dann auch schon mal 20 Beutel zusammen, die dann in einem Einkaufswagen zum Auto transportiert werden. Hat man kein Auto, dann muss man sich eben mit den vielen kleinen Tütchen zu Fuß auf den Weg nach Hause machen.

Da dieser Einkauf so schwer ist, versucht man so schnell wie möglich nach Hause zu kommen, ohne die Verkehrsregeln zu beachten. In England geht man sehr gerne bei Rot über die Straße. Diese sehr undeutsche Verhaltensweise hat sogar einen Namen: Jaywalking. Als Deutscher dreht man sich doch noch mal dabei um, denn auch wenn keine Autos in der Nähe sind, hält man nach einem Polizisten Ausschau, denn wenn man bei Rot über eine Ampel läuft, begeht man eine Straftat. Zumindest in Deutschland. In England hat diese Tätigkeit nicht nur einen eigenen Namen, sondern ist auch noch legal. Gefährlich eine Straße zu überqueren, ist es dann doch. Zwar fällt die Geldstrafe weg, aber dafür muss man sich vor den Geisterfahrern in Acht halten. Die Engländer bevorzugen es, auf der falschen Straßenseite zu fahren, obwohl sie darauf bestehen, dass diese „falsche“ Seite die eigentlich „richtige“ sei – nur der Rest Europas hätte das eben noch nicht erkannt. Und da den Engländern dieser europäische Irrtum bewusst ist, haben sie zumindest in ihrer Hauptstadt an jeder Straßenüberquerung die Worte „look left“ oder „look right“ auf den Asphalt geschrieben. Für mich als Deutsche ist die Beteiligung im Straßenverkehr auch als Fußgänger ein Risiko.

Habe ich es dann unfallfrei ins Studentenwohnheim geschafft, geht es mit der englischen Verrücktheit gleich weiter.
Während in Deutschland Jugendliche ihre Rock’n’Roll-Jahre in der Schulzeit durchleben, geht das in England im Studium erst so richtig los. Noch vor dem Abendbrot bzw. Abendessen, denn Engländer würden niemals Brot am Abend essen, gibt es schon die ersten zwei Guinness und danach geht es dann mit Cannabis und Pillen weiter. In so einem Rausch wird dann gut und gerne mal der ganze Campus in Toilettenpapier eingehüllt. Volljährige Studenten veranstalten so im Sommer eine Schneeballschlacht, schmücken Bäume weiß und kugeln sich im Papier. Wenn das Toilettenpapier mal ausgeht, werden eben so viele Studenten wie möglich zusammengerufen um eine riesige Party im Wohnheim zu veranstalten. Gegen hunderte betrunkene, bekiffte und gedopte Studenten in Partylaune kann auch ein kleiner Wachmann nichts machen. Die Idee mit dem Feueralarm, als Mittel, die Studenten zu entfernen, war ja erstmal nicht schlecht, hätte die Feuerwehr, die dann anrückte, nicht mitgefeiert. So wurde mit englischen Feuerwehrmännern Bier getrunken, Fotos gemacht und wenn man einen ganz kurzen Minirock anhatte, durfte man auch mal die Feuerwehrsirene aufheulen lassen.

Will man diesem Wahnsinn entfliehen, versucht man einen ruhigen Abend im Pub zu verbringen. Dort ist wenigstens Rauchverbot, somit auch Joint-Verbot. Als Frau wird man etwas schief angeschaut, bestellt man sich ein Bier. Erwähnt man aber, dass man aus Deutschland kommt, wird einem ein verständnisvolles Nicken entgegengesetzt. Mittlerweile werde ich schon die Beer Lady genannt. Um wieder mal ein bekanntes Klischee umzustoßen, muss an dieser Stelle erwähnt werden, dass niemand anfängt, schlechte Hitler-Witze zu erzählen, wenn man sich als deutsche outet. Auch Fußball ist da ein seltenes Gesprächsthema. Nein. Geduldig muss man sich immer wieder Geschichten vom Oktoberfest anhören. Und dann wird noch erwartet, dass man als Deutscher von seinen lustigen Erfahrungen während des Festes schwärmt, als wenn es in Deutschland keine andere Möglichkeit gäbe, sich zu amüsieren. In einigen Teilen Deutschlands wird ja sogar behauptet, Bayern wäre Ausland. Das erklär’ mal einem Engländer.

Wenn man Pech hat, findet dieses Gespräch mehrmals am Abend statt, denn im Pub redet man nicht nur mit einer Person. Engländer sind ein sehr offenes Völkchen, die ihren Small Talk mit wildfremden Menschen lieben.
Gerettet wird man dann spätestens um Mitternacht von der Glocke, die geläutet wird, um ein Signal zu geben, dass das letzte Bier ausgeschenkt wird. Danach machen alle englischen Barkeeper Feierabend.

Ist man dann noch nicht betrunken genug, kann man in die Nachtclubs weiterziehen. Zum Tanzen scheint dort niemand hinzugehen. Versucht man es doch, wird man von allen Seiten angesprochen oder sogar angefasst. Zumindest die Männer sind in England offener…oder auch aufdringlicher. Von wegen die Engländer seien steif! Wenigstens braucht man kein Geld für Getränke bezahlen, denn das übernehmen die Männer für einen. Am Anfang habe ich geglaubt, diese seien auch noch naiv, denn nannten sie mich gleich schon „babe“, „sweetheart“ und „darling“ und sprachen schon am ersten Abend des Kennenlernens von Liebe. Bei näherer Beobachtung fiel mir allerdings auf, dass sie das zu jeder Frau sagen und so verschwindet dann auch jedes schlechte Gewissen, das man bekommt, wenn man meint, man bräche so vielen Männern das Herz.
In diesem Chaos habe ich schon einige Überlebensstrategien entwickelt:
Ich habe jetzt schon herausgefunden, wo es bestimmte deutsche Produkte gibt und den Rest lasse ich mir von zu Hause schicken, um einer Lebensmittelvergiftung zu entgehen.

An die verkehrte Welt des Verkehrssystems gewöhnt man sich sehr rasch. Gefährlich wird es dann nur, wenn man mal wieder in Deutschland zu Besuch ist.
Will man unter den noch pubertierenden Studenten ohne Kulturschock überleben, bleibt einem nichts anderes übrig, als sich genauso zu benehmen. Illegale Drogen lässt man dann eben weg und bemitleidet die Armen gleichzeitig, dass diese sich Substanzen zuführen müssen, um so fröhlich zu sein. Dabei ist diese englische Ausgelassenheit schon allein eine Sucht – meine deutschen Freunde halten mich zumindest jetzt alle für verrückt.

In den Pubs erzähl ich einfach, ich käme aus Österreich und wenn ich das nächste Mal Lust zum tanzen habe, gehe ich einfach in einen Schwulenclub.
Ich hoffe, die Queen hat diese Strategien schon längst erkannt und verinnerlicht, ansonsten liegt es wirklich an Gott, sie zu retten.

Hurricane Emma

2008-10-12T23:50:00.000+01:00

written in march 2008

A British ski holiday-maker was one of 13 people killed by Hurricane Emma, a storm that battered Europe in the beginning of March.

Mark Huddlestone, a 47-year old father from Widnes, Cheshire, died in a freak accident while he was on the way to his hotel in Austria. The 150mph wind caused an avalanche that had ripped through trees and sent one of the rocks crashing onto the roof of the taxi he was travelling in. Huddlestone left a wife and two sons, Andy aged 15, and Tim aged 11.

Andy thanked the hotels’ staff for their support and wrote on their website: “Unfortunately, this was a freak accident nobody could have prevented.” The British owner of the hotel, Steve Woods, knew Huddlestone as he used to go on holiday in that area for the past 15 years and referred to him as a friend. “He was far more than a guest; he was like part of the family. He was a great family man - all he was about was his wife and his kids,” Woods said.

Three other people lost their lives this Saturday in Austria, but also Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic reported casualties. An 11-year old girl was hit by a falling tree north of Prague and an 80-year old priest was struck by flying metal sheets in the country’s capital, Reuters reported. At least four Germans were killed, all of them dying in their car. A 58-year old man was killed when a tree fell down on his car, the other three lost the control over their vehicles.
In Poland two men also lost their lives in their cars. The German meteorologist Helmut Malewski said: “We had great luck that the storm fell on a Saturday morning.”[N-TV] On a working day more people would have been on their way to work.

The violent storm ripped off roofs, tore out site fences and road signs, blocked streets and caused hindrance to the holiday traffic. Hundreds of thousands were left without electricity and the North of Germany suffered from storm tides.
According to Reuters, Hurricane Emma caused a damage of €1m, less than expected.
“We have overestimated the first part of the storm during the night,” Rüdiger Hartig, representative of the German weather service, said.
A representative of the railway service Deutsche Bahn announced: “The storm [Emma] was not comparable [to Kyrill] in duration and in intensity.”

Even though Emma’s overall damage was less than the one Hurricane Kyrill caused, the recent storm had a much bigger effect in some places, as reported from the Applied Insurance Research (AIR). The damage of affected buildings turned out to be worse than through Kyrill. The most frequent damages were blown off tiles.
Last year’s Hurricane Kyrill burdened the insurance market with a loss of €4.5billion, £350m in England.

Kyrill roared through Europe in January 2007, killing at least 47 people, 11 in England alone. The fatalities occurred through car accidents, building collapses, building debris and falling trees. The storm moved across the Atlantic Ocean towards Ireland and the UK at the evening of 17 January. It then crossed the North Sea reaching Germany and Denmark on the 18 January moving further towards Eastern Europe.
Kyrill was a European windstorm, an usual natural phenomenon in the winter months. It is normally moving towards Norway but can sometimes affect countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands,Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republicand Poland.

Storms as Emma and Kyrill come right after the highest cause of global natural catastrophe insurance loss, the U.S. hurricanes. Experts explain the increase of violent storms on the northern hemisphere with the change of the wind direction over the Atlantic Ocean.

The German meteorologist Karl Bumke stated that violent storms will increase in the future but he refused to link the hurricanes to global warming. He said violent storms have always existed. European windstorms develop when the cold air from Canada and the hot air coming from the Bermudas meet at the North Atlantic.

The Life in the GDR

2008-10-12T23:49:00.000+01:00

written in february 2008

Life in the GDR
Two decades ago, Heidemarie Goldhahn was at work, when a man ran into the office and shouted: „Hurry up, guys, they have bananas in the shops!“ Suddenly everyone left their desks and ran out to queue for hours to get a banana for each of their family members.
Today, rotten bananas lie in Mrs Goldhahn’s kitchen. She was not able to eat them all when they were fresh.
She, now 53, grew up in the GDR, a place you think back when you read George Orwell’s 1984. And then you wonder, how he managed to foresee the life in the GDR when he wrote the book in 1948.
Not only tropical fruits were very rare in that time.
“The things you could buy at home were ugly, not tasty at all and qualitative not good. If you wanted to have something good, you needed to have connections,” Mrs Goldhahn said.
Luckily she had relatives in West Germany who sent her parcels with coffee, tights and jeans.
However, the government had to make sure that no western ideas could enter the eastern part of the world.
When Mrs Goldhahn was six years old, her aunt sent her a book, but when she got it, she found that several paragraphs and pages were cut out.
Mrs Goldhahn explained: “Western media were forbidden – otherwise you could have established your own opinion and see that the country you live in is not as good as it seems to be.”
The government opened letters, people were bugged and kept under surveillance.
From the early childhood people were brought up in a collective. You had to attend events with your collective after school or work.
“We spent time with each other and everyone was nice to everyone. Today’s dog-eat-dog society didn’t exist,” Mrs Goldhahn said. “But we knew that there is a member of the secret police in every collective and no one knew who it was. You could not trust anyone, not even your best friend or your partner.”
The government of the GDR established prisons just for people who had another opinion. Not to agree with the government was a crime.
There was only one party, the SED. There were elections, but you could only vote this party.
“The only choice you had was to vote or not to vote. But if you did not vote, you were put on the blacklist” Mrs. Goldhahn said. Election helpers came to hospitals with the election boxes so that the 90-year olds and ill citizens could put their vote into it.
Mrs Goldhahn stated: “When I think about what was good in the GDR, there is not much I can think of.”
One point she mentioned was that no one had the fear for one’s existence. “Everyone had the right and the duty to work,” she said.
Even though everyone had a job, people did not earn much. Everyone got more or less the same amount of money.
Mrs Goldhahn recalled:” There was always someone who had more money than you, but that was only because he had connections.”
Those who refused to work, disappeared. “I don’t know what happened to them, but I guess they had to go to jail,” she said. When those disappeared, came back, they had to be “re-integrated” into the job, and the employers had the duty to employ them.
The crime rate, reported by the press, seemed to be another argument that the GDR was a nice place to live.
Mrs Goldhahn reported that it was not allowed to bring prams into the supermarket. “It was self-evident that you leave the pram and the child in front of the supermarket while you do your shopping. No one would have stolen your baby.”
The reason for that was that people could not pass the borders of the GDR and therefore it would have been just a question of time till the police have found a kidnapper.
But, after the wall came down, people noticed that crimes existed like in every other country. It was only the press that did not talk about it. People were supposed to think the best of the GDR.
When Mrs Goldhahn was asked if she ever thought about fleeing, she said: “I was born and brought up in this system. I never knew anything else. I did not feel like they treat me bad, I just believed what I was told.”
Today, she is still living in the eastern part of Germany, where she grew up. But everything has changed. After finding out what really happened, she despises the GDR and would never wish it back.

Where have all the punks gone?

2008-10-12T23:46:00.000+01:00

written in January 2008

Camden markets on a cold, wet and rainy Friday afternoon:
The weather has bleached the colours out of Camden Town. The only things that shine brightly are the products the stall owners desperately try to sell. Pink hand cuffs, yellow army boots and green trousers, still dazzling like on any other day in Camden, do not find a new owner on this day.
The market is merely crowded so that the warning to watch one’s bag for not becoming a victim of theft at the tube station is absolutely superfluous.
The only people on the Camden High Street are tourists taking pictures of all the punk, raver and gothic clothes the market offers.
Ironically, the punks, ravers and gothics are missing. Nevertheless, you can get ties with skulls on it, jumpers with the typical Ska-logo and buttons with the names of famous punk and metal bands printed on it.
The T-shirt stalls offer clothes with Metallica and Misfits logos, printed words such as back off, Pornostar and National Pornographic with Rhinoceroses that jump each other. Political customers can also get Hitler’s European Tour 1939-1945 T-shirts as well as one that claims that Hitler and Bush are the “same shit”.
Bob Marley music, the smell of incense, pipes, shishas, bongs and even “Super Skunk: legal intoxicating smoking mixture for sale to adults only” would work up enthusiasm for fans of legal or illegal drugs, if there were any.
But the only people who look like they would buy all that stuff are the stall owners themselves with their red, blue or green dreadlocks, piercing and tattoos. While some of them scare the customers away just with the way they look like, others try to smile or beckon you over to them, saying “come on in” to get at least some customers.
The guy holding the shield Eclipse Tattoo and Piercing Studio yawns and probably asks himself what his sense of standing in the rain is. Today no one seems to be interested in the bargain of a tattoo for £40 or a Piercing for £25. Others are doing Sudoku as it is clear: Today they won’t sell anything.
The smart stall owners put out their Hello Kitty fan clothes, Mickey Mouse purses and London souvenirs that they could sell to tourists.
Only one punk is standing at a food stall with his U.K. Subs leather jacket, holding a shopping bag in his hands – which does not correspond with the cliché of a dirty, poor punk who begs for money with a beer in his hand at ten o’clock in the morning.
One girl says: “I do not really feel like I’m in London.” This could be because of the different sorts of food, clothes and music that can be found at Camden markets. You can buy clothes that look like they came directly from the cast of a Bollywood film, and even the German band Rammstein can be heard from the other side of the market.
But, it could also be because there are hardly any English people, but lots of tourists from all over the world. While walking up the High Street or on the cobbled surface on the winded roads of Camden Lock you can hear conversations in French, Spanish, Italian and German, but not English.
Even an alternative market like Camden has become what punks would call, with a disgusted tone, “mainstream”. Camden Town is becoming more and more a tourist attraction and the best time to notice that is on a cold, wet and rainy Friday afternoon.

Why can’t a blogger be a journalist?

2008-10-12T23:44:00.000+01:00

written in december 2007

Blogs, wikis and discussion boards: User generated content is the new competitor of journalism. Or is this even a new form of journalism? Do journalists need to study journalism to become a member of the “free press”?
A journalist is the creator of a product, he writes about news. This product is also commonly known as the “first draft of history”.
The Tsunami in December 2004 is without doubt a disaster that will go down in history. When the Tsunami arrived at the coast, not a single journalist was on the beach. In the first 24 hours the only videos, pictures and reports came from citizens and tourists. The blogger Geoffrey Huntler from Australia created the website waveofdestruction.org, which had over half a million visitors in the first four days.
Without those eyewitnesses, people all over the world would have not been informed that quickly.
But now “professional” journalists complain about bloggers, who become more and more successful, saying they are not trustworthy. But how trustworthy is a “professional” journalist?
Journalists have a very important role the democratic society. They do not only supply citizens with information, they also act as a watchdog that scrutinizes and observes the government objectively – or better: should do. In that way, journalists are supposed to protect the public from wrong decisions at the election time. But journalists are not always biased.
Media organisations have grown into huge conglomerates. Because of pressure from advertisers the media suppressed information about the dangers of smoking in former times.
Through the high competition in the market, it came to more tabloidization and infotainment in the news lately. And media and politics influence and depend on each other. An example is the non-aggression pact between Tony Blair and Rupert Murdoch in 1996.
Professional journalists are not at all trustworthy.
Journalism is not automatically a profession.
The first university that offered a course in journalism was the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1879. Before that journalists perfected their skills through learning by doing – without a university degree. Bloggers do not do anything else.
The decrease in newspaper readers is alarming. But the fact that people do enjoy reading
blogs proves that this is not about an ignorant society that is not interested in what is going on in the world. It does prove that journalists should rethink the way they write.
The New York Times realised that and acquired blogrunner in 2005 and Trinity Mirror launched an experiment with crowd sourcing.
Maybe, bloggers are the journalists of the future.

Und jetzt noch einmal auf deutsch

2008-10-12T23:28:00.000+01:00

Hallo,
für den Fall, dass ihr der englischen Sprache nicht mächtig seid, kommt hier eine kleine Zusammenfassung des gerade geposteten englischen Textes.
Mein Name ist Anika und ich studiere Journalismus an der University of Westminster in London. Vor gut einem Jahr bin ich in diese Riesenmetropole gezogen und habe hier mein zweites Zu Hause gefunden. Ich glaube, in meinem früheren Leben ein Engländer gewesen zu sein, denn ich habe manchmal das Gefühl, in England viel besser hineinzupassen, als in Deutschland.

Ich finde es schon fast beschämend, erst nach über einem Jahr des Journalismusstudiums einen Blog einzurichten. Da ich aber ein kleiner Streber bin, hatte ich nie wirklich die Zeit gefunden, selbst Artikel zu schreiben. Ich habe ein paar Artikel für die Uni schreiben "müssen", aber sehr stolz war ich auf diese wirklich nicht. Obwohl ich jetzt schon so lange in London lebe, beherrsche ich die englische Sprache noch nicht perfekt. Ich denke und träume zwar komplett in englisch, aber ich mache hin und wieder immer noch ganz dumme Fehler, für die mich meine ehemalige Englischlehrerin ohrfeigen würde. Es ist da wohl verständlich, dass ich noch nicht so gut mit der englischen Sprache jonglieren kann. Wie man bestimme Stimmung in einem Text wiedergibt, mit Wörtern spielt - all das kann ich auf deutsch machen, leider aber nicht auf englisch.

Den Sommer habe ich in Deutschland verbracht und einfach ein wenig zu bestimmten Themen recherchiert und ein paar Artikel geschrieben. Ich habe dabei meine Kontaktliste erweitern und einige Artikel veröffentlichen können. Ich werde sowohl meine englischen, als auch meine deutschen Texte hier veröffentlichen.

let me introduce you to...

2008-10-12T22:59:00.000+01:00

Hi,
my name is Anika and I am currently studying journalism at the University of Westminster in London. I just created this blog to share some of my written or even published articles.

As soon as I could read and write, I knew that I wanted to become a writer. Just recently, my mother told me that when I was learning how to read I often took my dad's newspaper and searched for words that I already knew. I wrote my first short story when I was seven and I started writing poems and lyrics as soon as I was eleven years old. I also love to read. If I do not have to read three academical books a week for my degree, I try to read at least one novel in a week.

As I was not sure if I will become a successful writer with an degree in "creative writing", I decided to study journalism. Even though I still dream of writing novels one day, I also enjoy writing articles. My goal is to write for a broadsheet like The Guardian, or if I go back to Germany, Der Spiegel. I would not like to waste my talent to a gossip magazine, as I am well aware of the importance of good journalism. Journalism the so-called Fourth Estate. People read the newspapers every day...it is a kind of brainwashing. It's important to brainwash people with the right things. Since I am a very proud defender of democracy, it is my duty to fight against racism and hatred with the means of the media.

Furthermore, if Carrie Bradshaw was a real person, she would be my role model. I dream of having my own little column. As I'm not very close to become a Carrie Bradshaw in the near future, I will have to satisfied with having a blog. I'm probably gonna write about politics as well as concert, theatre and book reviews. But I might also compare men to socks or write about sex á la Carrie. (I am feeling sorry for the men to come)

This summer, I went back to Germany, where I grew up. I started doing some freelance journalism and I was able to find some very good contacts. I am a regularly writer for the regional Arts&Entertainment magazine "Blicklicht", where I published some articles about politics and concert reviews. I will put them online as it is hard to read these articles when you are not living in Cottbus. Also I have published some articles in the internet pop magazine "Doppelpunkt".

Therefore, this blog is going to be a bilingual one. I will post all in German published articles in here as well as articles I have written for uni in English. Unfortunately my English is still not perfect, even though I live in London for quite a while now. Obviously, it is still hard for me to play around with English words and use lots of puns. Therefore my news articles will be better in English whereas I can post my German feature articles with pride.

For everyone whose mother tongue is not English, I will introduce myself in German soon.